


A Midsummer Night's Dream

by Evekle



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Berry Picking, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff and happiness, Going to the Park, M/M, Slow Burn, Thinking About the Future, Watching Movies Together, feelings are hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 08:53:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15602784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evekle/pseuds/Evekle
Summary: It's the summer break and shenanigans ensue. Tony deals with a crush on Stephen and everyone has a fun time. For the Ironstrange Big Bang over at Tumblr!





	A Midsummer Night's Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Two weeks of pounding and I'm finally done! Hope y'all enjoy this fic! Major thanks to @dr-man-fan over at Tumblr for beta-ing and @myaani for the art piece!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated!

  
  


The summer days have finally begun, after months and months of going through the school year, it was finally over. It was going to be the first day of summer, everyone was getting up, enjoying the first taste of freedom. Eight months of school had just passed, allowing the students to  _ finally  _ do whatever they please. Finals were over, and life has never seemed better. 

 

Each day the summer could pass by with every minute available for him to do whatever, time to live life to the fullest. He thinks of crossing each day of the calender, running around the community with friends, eating pies, plucking fruits, it was time for the best time of year. 

 

Here was Tony Stark, working in the garage on another project that he’s begun. It was only in the early stages, the blueprint on the side as the boy works. The first crack of dawn had him running to the roof of his house, it was around seven in the morning. It was time.

 

“C’mon, let’s go” Tony says to himself as he scrambles up the stairs of the house, careful not to wake anyone in the building. He had to see what the first day of summer was like. 

 

Once he was on the roof, the sky still filled with stars, the sun just peeping out from the behind the neighborhood’s houses. Summer has begun as the birds begin to chirp, the warm air causing everyone to stir as the day begins. One by one, the street lamps turn off, waving away the school year for another year. 

“Everyone up,” he points at one of the houses just as the lights turn on. Ready for the day. “Up we go.” Shutters begin to open, windows opened to welcome the new summer day. 

 

Tony continues to point as life begins to stir, all clockwork. Here and there, they should be up by now. Oh! Don’t forget about over there! 

 

“Summer is waiting, guys, c’mon,” Tony points at one house on random, it should be Stephen’s house if he remembers correctly. 

 

“Bruce, ready for another project?” The doors begin to open, everyone is stirring as the new day comes, ready for summer. Every street with his friends are finally getting up. He guesses that Steve and Bucky are getting ready for some more sports, as long as it isn’t football, he’ll consider joining. 

“Dad, Mom, let’s get summer on the road.” there should be someone getting up around now. Every house is up and stirring, ready for summer. 

 

And now, summer has begun. 

 

* * *

 

 

First things first was ringing up all his friends. The Stranges’ should be up by now, always been known as the early birds. Bruce as well, ready for another crazy project, maybe this year they’ll make an erupting volcano. This year, he’ll finally beat Steve in sports, somehow. It’ll happen. This was the time of change, right before the school year to achieve greatness. 

 

Eight weeks of doing whatever the hell they wanted. This was going to be awesome. 

 

The second he gets downstairs, he picks up the home phone, it’s time to ring everyone up. 

“Hey, Steph! You up?” he shouts into the phone, there’s a groan from the other side of the phone. Guess who beat the early bird riser this time? Him. 

“Why now of all times? Tony, what is it?” Stephen asks him, voice hoarse from being awoken at an ungodly hour, probably. 

“What do you want to do today? Steph, it’s the summer, we can do whatever we want!” he tells him, excitement bursting from his voice. 

“Tones, just tell me. It’s movie night isn’t it?” 

“Yeah! Like when we were kids!” 

“What time?” 

“Nine? Nine.” 

“I’ll be there.” the call ends.  

Great. He’s gotten one person on board for the this summer day, except the fact that no one has  _ ever  _ declined the invite. The next few calls are easier, everyone jumping on board one by one.

 

* * *

 

The first day of  summer involves everyone crashing into his basement, his parents are on a business trip so whatever. This place was his to run. Time for some big fun. 

“What movie?” he asks holding up the control to the television. 

“Incredibles, why not.” Steve tells him before taking a shot from his box of juice.

“But the Matrix is awesome!” 

“Titanic,” Bruce shouts out, clearly someone wanted them to cry or to laugh their heads off-it’s too cliche for their tastes. 

 

The friends end up watching  _ Birdemic: Shock and Terror _ of all things. Pepper and Natasha joining in at the last act of the movie, laughter bounces off from the walls as everyone pokes fun at the terrible CG. They all make comments about how  _ they  _ might have directed it better only to realize that the lack of funding. Steve and Bucky take up the challenge. Two months and they get to see the so called ‘remastered’ version of the Birdemic, made by a bunch of high school students.

 

Oh boy, Tony can’t wait to see  _ that  _ CGI. Maybe he’ll keep it as a memoir. 

 

* * *

 

It’s the second game for the World Cup, everyone is crowding around Steve’s television screen. Stephen is right up in the front, wearing that ridiculous hat of his. Cheering and shouting every time one team is about to score, Tony doubts Stephen even knows what team he’s cheering for at this point. He’s not even paying attention to the game, watching his friend’s reaction is just so much more interesting. 

“That was awesome, did you see that pass? Beautiful,” he tells him, pointing at the screen. 

“I’m sure it is,” Tony replies, not quite understanding what his friend was saying to him as the ball is right about to be scored. There’s a whoop of joy from Stephen as the ball going in, the boy’s fists pumping up and down. 

“And SCORE! That was amazing! Did you see it?!” 

Stephen was so adorable whenever he acted like this, just having enthusiasm for something he loves. Scratch all of that, friends don’t think of each other in  _ that  _ way, not that it bugs Tony a bit. It’s just a bit weird thinking of his friend this way, that’s all, definitely do not have a crush on him. Nope, of course not. He sees Stephen’s eyes light up whenever the ball gets close to the goal, it’s a whole other galaxy that he wants to see. 

 

For as long as the World Cup is playing he invites Stephen over,  _ everyday _ , not wanting the other boy to ever miss a single game. Plus, it’s nice company. And everyday, the other boy comes wearing that hat of his with a giant grin. Occasionally, he’ll bring Donna and Victor as well, the three siblings all glued to the television screen. Tony has never felt happier in his life. Whenever there’s a goal, the entire house seems to erupt with screams, it’s great. 

 

It happens through the first month of summer, mostly through the morning to the afternoon. He makes sure to have a schedule on the fridge, making sure that they aren’t missing anything, at one point he swears that the only reason Steph even comes over is for his flat screen television. Though, Tony does enjoy the company, not that he’ll ever admit it. 

 

At the final match up, he swears that his eardrums are completely gone. Everyone is completely absorbed in the game, somehow they’ve managed to work up a tense atmosphere in the room. Yet once the match ends, it’s like it never happened. They just leave the house without saying much, just eagerly discussing how good or how bad the match is. He’s simply left alone. A few minutes later, his mother comes in, asking him about the entire event. 

“How was it Tony?” 

“It was great mom! Can they come over whenever?” 

“Of course.” 

 

* * *

 

Somehow, he’s allowed to the Stranges’ house. It’s weird. The two of them just relax as a movie is played on Stephen’s laptop. Tony isn’t even paying attention to the movie, hell, he has no idea what it’s about. Not that he even cares. He’s more worried about Stephen sleeping on top of him, it’s sending his mind flying around the globe. 

 

It was around a third through the movie when Steph just fell asleep, then the cuddling started. He doesn’t even dare move at all. This has become a truly awkward scenario. There’s nothing he can really do at this point, even if the movie did end Stephen doesn’t seem to want to move at all. He sits through the rest of the movie, trying very hard not to move a single limb. His arm ends up falling asleep.

 

A few minutes after the movie ends, Stephen gets up, finally allowing Tony to move again. 

“Did I fall asleep on you? Sorry about that.” 

“No no no, it’s fine.” 

He means it, hell, Stephen could sleep on him and Tony wouldn’t even complain. Make it everyday, actually no. He’s clearly going nuts.

 

* * *

 

 

They drag everyone to go strawberry picking during the next week. Originally being Stephen’s brother’s idea, the little kid drags them along, eating more strawberries than he should be eating. Everyone is dragged along since the kid doesn’t want to go alone as it would be ‘boring’. Tony ends up being in the same car as the Strange siblings, he asked for it in all honesty. More time with Stephen was always a win, even if Stephen’s sister keeps on giving them glances with a smirk. 

“So are you two together?” she asks with a grin. He automatically starts blushing, while 

“Donna, what did I tell you before we left?” 

“That you’re a lonely student. No social life.” 

“Shut it, I’m  _ not _ that lonely.” 

“‘Cept Donna is right.”

“Victor!” 

The entire car is filled with laughter as they slowly go closer to the orchard. There’s Steve and Bucky waving at them before cursing their inability to find a parking spot. Everyone greets each other with grins. Oh boy, let this party begin. 

 

Everyone has their baskets, ready to pick these berries. Somehow, Shuri makes her brother climb ontop a tractor. 

“I’m the king of the world!” T’challa yells at them. Tony gives him a thumbs up. He sees Shuri snap a photo of this event, giggling to herself. 

“M’lord, then come help your fellow subjects,” Steve calls back. Everyone watches T’challa leap down, striking a superhero landing before grinning at everyone. 

 

Soon afterwards, everyone is working hard, trying to cram as many berries into their mouths. Stephen gives him one, for no reason at all and it confuses him. It’s on the way back to the farm, when they get mistaken as couple, yeah,  _ if only _ , if only that was reality. Tony can completely blame the fact that they were holding hands, platonically of course. 

 

The group of friends make a run for the exit. Everyone is laughing all around, Victor is eating  _ all  _ the berries that they had spent all the time in the sun for. He and Stephen enjoy the ride back, the wind whistling by them as they are driven back home. On the way, they exchange a few inside jokes as the car moves. This is how summer was supposed to be. 

 

* * *

 

 

It’s a few days afterwards when Tony texts Steve about the dilemma that he has. Or as he calls it,  _ why do I think about my friend in  _ **_that_ ** _ way _ . He gets a rather fast response, or rather, the entire group chat gives him advice. 

_ Stevie: You like him.  _

_ Tones: AHAHA no way  _

What are the odds. The world can’t be this nice to him after all this time. As much as Tony trusts Steve, he feels like he’s being lied to. 

_ Stevie: pretty obvious  _

_ Tones: Doubt it. Pep, you have a girlfriend. Sos over here _

_ Queen Pepper: YOU LIKE HIM TONY _

_ Nat is married to Pep: what my girlfriend said^ _

This doesn’t help with anything. It’s redundant information at this point. Remind him not to make these people his wingman in the future. 

_ Tones: not helping  _

_ Tones: What do I do with this information?  _

_ Buck’s Barn: TELL HIM _

_ Stevie:^^^^ _

_ Nat is married to Pep:^^^^ _

_ Queen Pepper:^^^^^^ _

_ Tones: *screaming*  _

_ Stevie: Good luck _

 

As for his next idea, he might as well make the most of it or at least try. Tony decides to text Rhodey in order to help him, at least he’s sure that the information won’t be used as blackmail. 

_ Iron dude: Hey dude _

_ Rhodey: Yeah _

_ Iron dude: help me plan a date  _

_ Rhodey: uh sure?  _

_ Iron dude: gimme places to go to. Low prices plz _

_ Rhodey: a cafe, bar _

_ Iron dude: we can’t drink yet  _

_ Rhodey: go to the local burger place  _

_ Iron dude: thanks. Lifesaver  _

Alright, he has a figment of an idea of what he’s going to do next. At the very least, he might regret this if things go the other way. Tony takes out a notebook and starts scribbling down ideas. 

 

* * *

 

It's a few weeks at the end of summer when everyone makes an arrangement to go to the amusement park. Tony  _ wants  _ to go, so he does the logical and drags Stephen with him. The other boy practically complains the entire way, talking about how much he hates roller coasters and whatnot. 

 

However, once they do get there. Stephen has stopped complaining and starts dragging him off to a ride. The first ride that they get involves them being thrown into the air before rotating. Tony hates the ride with a weird passion, he always comes out with a sick stomach. He starts screaming as the ride starts to dive down. The wind whips into his month and he can’t open his mouth. They come off the ride with Tony acting drunk, using Stephen as a way to keep stumbling over. 

 

He spots Steve and Bucky riding on the carousel, yelling to each other for some odd reason. It’s just a kids ride after all. The others are walking around the place, occasionally chasing each other around the place. They might be a bit old for this place but who even cares. Tony has to call them over so that a bunch of kids don’t start crying about how ‘they’re scary and taking all the good spots.’ So he drags the two of them over to the ice cream truck before buying Stephen and himself one. Steve gives him a thumbs up, which he rolls his eyes to in response. 

 

“Why’d you bother buying me ice cream? I have money.” Stephen asks him, quirky an eyebrow and gesturing to his pant pockets. 

“Why  _ not _ ? It’s not like I have anything to do,” he questions as he takes a lick of his ice cream. Vanilla, truly one of best flavours.  

“I’ll pay you back.” Tony watches the other boy fiddle around in his pockets before he stops him. Hands holding, well, that was going to happen anyways, whatever. 

“You don’t need to.” he looks at Stephen in the eye, giving the boy’s hand a squeeze. 

“I insist.” 

“But--” Tony puts a finger on his friend’s mouth before the other boy can say anything. 

“Just eat your ice cream.” he pauses, watching as the treat begins to slide off the cone. “It’s melting Strange.” 

 

To say that the entire conversation was weird would be an understatement. See, Tony’s gone through many conversations like this, it’s not really surprising though he’s pretty sure Steve is off laughing in the distance somewhere. He spends the rest of the day going between rides and ends up getting seasick from that stupid boat ride. It  _ seemed  _ like a good idea at the time, he tries to reason. Hell, he doesn’t even know why he went on the ride. Roller Coasters are cooler anyways, had Stephen not dragged him away from the highest ride. 

 

It ends up becoming one of the best days of summer he’s ever experienced-even if it was 86 degrees fahrenheit.

 

* * *

 

 

The next few days involves the entire gang going for a film day. Filming as in making Steve and Bucky’s movie. He’s playing one of the leads since he decided on the day that it was a good idea to play a lead role-not that he can’t act, he  _ can _ . Stephen had become the camera man despite his constant pleading to act with him. It doesn’t work. 

 

As for the entire day, everyone is outside, complaining. It’s hot with the sun beaming down on them, Tony swears they’re all melting at this rate. Steve owes them all ice cream for dragging them up at six in the damn morning. 

“Are we done yet?” he asks, wiping his brow. The only thing they’ve been living off of is bottles of water. 

“No.” Bucky gives a shrug, completely nonchalant about the heat. 

 

It’s around two in the afternoon when he completely loses any semblance of sanity left in him. The heat is killing him and the entire script makes no  _ damn  _ sense.  _ Birds Appear _ , the script says and he’s beyond confused. Where the hell do they appear before this anyways? He gives a sigh just as Stephen passes him another bottle of water. It’s times like this when Tony truly gets a good look at Stephen’s eyes and well, damn. Tony feels his face heating up, and the water bottle falls to the ground. Whoops. 

 

The rest of the day goes by with similar encounters though the majority of them involve touch somehow. Tony swears that Steve is out to make his life miserable and Stephen’s actions are throwing him off. After everyone disperses, he sends a quick text to Steve, only to see the nickname change and he wants to die internally.

_ Tony: I am not confessing Steve _

_ Tone’s Wingman: DUDE SRSLY  _

_ Tony: I’ll do it soon alright?? _

_ Tone’s Wingman: *sigh*  _

 

* * *

 

 

It’s the middle of August when he gets it all together, he was going to confess in the park, on the small train. What’s the worse that can happen? Steve and him have fine tuned the idea with a few recommendations, such as what the other boy did to get with Bucky. He’s praying that everything goes smoothly, after all, Stephen looks like he’s interested so  _ he’ll be fine.  _

 

On the day of the ‘date’, Tony’s nervous. He has no idea about going about this. See, talking to people he can do but this was a whole other problem. How was he going to word this and not sound  _ weird _ ? The entire thing is bugging him to no end. Despite his charisma, talking about emotions is a big no-no. 

 

Tony waits in front of the diner, constantly checking his phone every few moments. Stephen isn’t responding to any of his messages despite agreeing to come. 

_ Tony: Hey, meet you at the diner. The burger one. Fifteen minutes from now? _

_ Stephen: Alright. See you there.  _

The next few minutes are a constant silence. Hell, his phone doesn’t even buzz. Ten minutes pass by in silence as he stands there, trying not to look awkward. He goes into the diner, reserving them a spot as he sits and waits, it’s another five minutes before the other boy shows up. He decides not to push about being late, after all everyone is late once in a while anyways. 

 

They order their food in some sort of awkward silence. Neither of them try to break the silence even though it’s strangling them. Stephen ends up going on his phone as they wait. The only thing he can think of is talking about next year- they were going to University or a collage. This meant they weren’t going to be able to see each other very often even though the majority of their group was going to the same place. 

“So Steph, excited for University?” he asks, at this point any conversation works. 

“I guess.” Tony watches the boy give a nod. This really the most awkward conversation they’ve had. He just starts fiddling around with the chair, having it shake back and forth. 

“I’m not. More schoolwork which I don’t need.” Tony tells him, trying to ease away the silence. 

“You’re not wrong Tones. It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire, how cheery!” 

They both laugh, it’s nice. Thing is, the butterflies in his stomach begin to flutter around. Right, the confession,  _ right _ . 

 

The entire meal goes by with them making small talk and the awkward silence doesn’t appear until he suggest that they should go off to the small park in the corner for a walk, it’s not like they have anything to do anything. Tony can practically hear Steve facepalming for delaying the inevitable-even if it was a few minutes. Yeah whatever. He’ll tell Stephen when the time is  _ right.  _

 

Walking there was way shorter than he had originally thought. It was five minutes, he was counting this time around. Tick tock. Another five minutes is used to get to the small ‘train’. Time is passing way too quickly, it’s making it harder as they take every step. Tony is going to die if he has to say this, it’s inevitable. The two of them reach the small train too quickly. Here he goes, into his death. 

 

“So Tony, why’d you call me out here?” Stephen looks at him with what looks like a face of confusion. Right, that, of course that would have showed up. 

“Uh. For some personal time with you,” he replies. This isn’t working seeing how Stephen looks unamused by the excuse. 

“We’ve been doing that for the entire summer Tony.” 

He fumbles a bit with the words, trying desperately trying to not make it seem cliche. Stephen beats him to it. Well shit.

“Lemme guess Tones, it’s  _ exactly  _ what I think it is.” 

Another pause. Talk about the timing, though Stephen could still be wrong. It’s not like this is playing out like a high school drama,  _ not at all _ . 

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” 

“Sure you do.” 

 

The silence is deafening, they just stare at each other, Tony really doesn’t want to say it at all but he doesn’t want to say it. It’s after a few more seconds and he can’t take it anymore. If he holds it in, it’s like he’s going to implode. He moves closer to Stephen on the opposite side of the small ride. Without thinking much, Tony takes a seat on the ‘driver’ seat, thoughts going a mile a minute. 

“Just tell me Tony. Do you not trust me or something?” 

This statement throws him off guard.

“I-I do! It’s just--”  _ Personal, that’s what. _

“Just what?” 

It’s another fumble with words and finally  _ finally  _ he spits it out. The entire confession comes out in a ramble seeing how some of his thoughts ended up jumping on board. 

“I uh, might like you more than a friend. I mean it’s alright that if you don’t feel the same, I totally get it. It’s not like I’m a good person seeing how I’m a mess and--” he stops and takes a breath.  _ Great job Tony _ , he thinks to himself. He watches Stephen’s expression which becomes unreadable. Automatically, thoughts race through his mind- all of them assuming the worst.  What he doesn’t expect is for Stephen is  _ kiss  _ him. It’s utter confusion.

“You talk too much.” That’s all Stephen tells him after breaking off the kiss. Tony swears that this has spiraled to the best day of his life- not that the entire summer wasn’t bad. 

 

The rest of the evening is spent reminiscing about the past. After this summer passes, they were going to be ‘adults’. Tony rambles on about their first meeting which has become a blur at this point. Time flies by- one minute they were just entering high school together and now they were leaving. Once the so called ‘date’ ends, he texts Steve about this achievement. 

_ Tony: I DID IT. HAPPY?? _

_ Stevie: FINALLY. How was it?  _

_ Tony: I’m never doing it again  _

_ Stevie: Yes or no knucklehead  _

_ Tony: .... YES!!! I love my life now _

_ Stevie: *choke* good job  _

 

Life has never been better. 

 

* * *

 

The last week of summer is used for a day at the park. Everyone arrives, well anyone who was heading towards university-or as he calls it: The Avengers and Co. It’s no surprise they all go in the evening. Tony meets up with everyone, smiling with glee. 

 

Everyone goes for the swings. He and Stephen are one of the first there but with the fact that there’s only four swings, they don’t make it. Steve and Bucky manage to grab the swings, choosing to jump off at the highest point. It’s a wonder that they don’t kill themselves. Despite this, Sam beats the two of them before bolting off. 

 

A game of hide and seek is initiated, even though there’s  _ clearly  _ no hiding places. Tony knows he is going to win, definitely he’s the pro of this game after all- ever since they were kids. He hears the others be caught one by one, Sam and T’challa seem like they were caught despite hiding on trees. It’s ridiculous. Even though they were seventeen or eighteen, this makes him feel like they were kids again, meeting each other at the park for the first time again. 

 

They all watch the sun set. He holds onto Stephen’s hands, glad that they had each other. 

 

* * *

 

 

It’s the last day of summer. Time has flown by with another school year appearing off in the corner. He stays on the roof, watching the sun set. Lights out everyone’s going back. Another school year, meaning more exams, tests and the whole lot. Tony wants summer to last forever. 

 

“Night Steve,” he points at the area. The area houses’ lights go dark. Hopefully they’ll be able to see the student version of  _ Birdemic: Shock and Terror!  _ soon. 

 

Looking around, his parents have gotten to sleep. The crickets begin to chirp, calling out, stronger than daily seeing how it was only so long before winter claimed them. Tick tock. Doors slam shut one by one. All of this is clockwork. 

 

“See you tomorrow Stephen,” Tony points at the house area. The area goes dark. The once bustling town is now going back to what it used to be, the boring days. Turning around, he looks at Bruce’s area. 

“Sorry about not being able to build anything,” he murmurs before pointing at the area. It goes dark. “At least we’re in the same class, wanna try then?” One house flickers back up again, as if to say ‘sure’. 

 

Summer was gone. Another year is coming. 

“Goodbye summer,” he gives a simple wave as the entire area goes dark. “It was nice while it lasted.” 

 

Let the new school year come. He’s more ready than ever. 

  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  



End file.
